311 terrorists neutralised this year in Kashmir, says top Army Commander

Complete synergy between security forces and freedom of operation given to the services resulted in the neutralisation of 311 terrorists this year, former DGMO and 15 Corps Commander Lieutenant General Anil Bhatt said on Monday.

Speaking to ANI after his troops foiled a Pakistani Border Action Team (BAT) attack on Indian posts in the Naugam sector and killed two terrorists, Lieutenant General Bhatt said: “The forces have been successful in killing 248 terrorists including top terrorist commanders along with the apprehension of 58 of them. Five of the terrorists have surrendered before us. So, till December 31 morning, security forces have been successful in neutralising 311 terrorists in our area of operations.”

Lauding his troops for the operation, Lieutenant General Bhatt said the credit for the success of forces should be given to the synergy between the Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police and paramilitary forces operating in the Kashmir valley.

“The synergy between the forces is at all levels. We can see complete coordination from the top to the operational level where the commanders are interacting and coordinating their actions,” the top army commander said.

In the past few years, the Army has killed over 200 terrorists every year. In 2018, the number of terrorists killed has increased.

The Srinagar-based 15 Corps is the main force responsible for the anti-terrorist operations in the Kashmir Valley with a significant contribution coming from the Jammu-based 16 Corps which looks after the operations in the Jammu area.

Lieutenant General Bhatt said that the major successes have been achieved by the forces despite long intervals in intensive operations due to the unilateral ceasefire declared by forces in Ramzan and their deployment during Amarnath Yatra.

Lieutenant General Bhatt said that the troops are also carrying out operations with complete freedom as they know that the top leadership would back them fully in all right actions and operations.

This could be seen last year when Army Chief General Bipin Rawat had backed Major Leetul Gogoi, who had tied an alleged stone-pelter to his jeep’s bonnet to protect his men and other civilian staff under his responsibility from other stone-pelters.